The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend children engage in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) for 60 minutes every day, however, most children in the United States do not meet this recommendation. Previous research has demonstrated MVPA is functionally related to activity contexts. Moreover, the presence of peers may influence MVPA, however this has not been experimentally demonstrated. The purpose of the current study was to experimentally manipulate group composition and assess its influence on children’s MVPA. A second purpose was to assess the influence of activity contexts on MVPA. Results indicated no differences between group and solitary conditions. However, responding did vary within activity contexts. Additionally, MVPA was highest during the fixed-equipment phase.

Physical activity is essential for children and adults to counteract the negative health outcomes related to a sedentary lifestyle. Despite widely publicized recommendation and information about physical activity the problem of excessive physically inactivity prevails in our society. The purpose of this study was to conduct a context functional analysis to identify outdoor activity contexts that engendered higher levels of MVPA and to adopt Dunlap, DePerczel, Clarke, Wilson, Wright, White, and Gomes’ (1994) methodology by utilizing an ABAB reversal design to determine if choice making influences levels of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in six preschool-aged children. Results of the context functional analysis showed that fixed equipment and open space engendered highest levels of MVPA in most participants. Levels of MVPA in the reversal design indicated that choice did not significantly influence levels of MVPA and that healthy and unhealthy choices varied between and within participants. These results suggest that related to levels of MVPA the type of outdoor activity context chosen is more important than the individual who chooses it.

Physical activity is an important health-related behavior, and The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that children engage in at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous-physical activity (MVPA) daily (CDC, 2015). However, worldwide, many children do not reach those requirements and health problems associated with physical inactivity are becoming more prevalent (CDC, 2015; World Health Organization [WHO], 2016). Recently, a few studies have conducted an intervention analysis to evaluate implications for function-based interventions to increase physical activity (Larson, Normand, Morley, & Miller, 2014; Zerger, Normand, Boga, & Patel, 2016). However, intervention analyses, indicate an overall decrease in levels of MVPA. This limitation could hinder further improvements of function-based interventions to increase physical activity, and is thus important to investigate. The current study partially replicated Zerger et al. (2016), and investigated the effects of alternating FA test conditions and repeated presentation of single condition exposure on maintenance of levels of MVPA in children. Additionally, the current study also evaluated the effectiveness of a more intermittent contingent schedules of reinforcement (i.e., fixed-interval limited-hold schedule) during intervention conditions. Results suggest it might be beneficial for caretakers and parents to deliver reinforcement in the form of social reinforcement to increase MVPA in preschool children. Additionally, the data suggest to promote MVPA, a more intermittent schedule of contingent social reinforcement does not reliably promote stable levels of MVPA.

On average, 5-10% of all cancers occur in patients with hereditary tumors, who may have mutations in tens to hundreds of tumor predisposition genes. The phenotypes in mutation carriers overlap, and parallel analyses with sequencing panels is the method of choice in diagnostics. In our laboratory, we designed a universal panel and a targeted panel for a specific cancer, which allowed us to identify genetic alterations in patients with ovarian cancer, breast cancer, melanoma, and other cancers in the Czech Republic. The results of next generation sequencing (NGS) analyses show that the most frequent genetic alteration in ovarian cancers patients in the Czech Republic are hereditary mutations in BRCA1 (in 24% of unselected patients) and in malignant melanoma patients CDKN2A (in 2% of high risk patients). The presence of hereditary alterations is a clinically significant phenomenon affecting the prognosis and treatment of the disease. However, the interpretation of NGS findings is complicated by the presence of variants of unknown significance (VUS). We participate in the interpretation of VUS in the main predisposing genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 within the international consortium ENIGMA (Evidence-based Network for the Interpretation of Germline Mutant Alleles). Our and international results of the most...

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While functional analysis provides the standard methodology for the assessment of problem behavior, procedures still pose potential risk when assessing severe problem behavior. Previous studies have examined several strategies to improve the efficiency of and reduce risks related to the functional analysis process. The purpose of the present series of studies was to replicate and extend previous research on the assessment and treatment of severe problem behavior for one participant diagnosed with an intellectual disability. By incorporating strategies within a systematic decision-making framework, functional analysis procedures were implemented to conduct the assessment of precursors, determine maintaining contingencies for severe problem behavior, and evaluate the effects of a treatment based on the results of a functional analysis.

Autism is subset of the special education population that seems to be growing at an alarming rate. According to the American Psychiatric Association (2000), one of the three main deficits found in someone diagnosed with autism is a "qualitative impairment in communication". However, language skills are very difficult for autistic children to learn and are often associated with disruptive behaviors. Research has shown a strong correlation between problem behaviors and difficulties with communication. This study uses techniques (i.e. functional analysis and functional assessment) to determine the function of these problem behaviors and their communicative intent. This study also demonstrates that an experimental approach such as a functional analysis can be done in a public school setting by public school personnel. Once the function is determined, treatments incorporating Functional Communication Training (FCT) can be applied to reduce these problem behaviors while increasing communication. Research has shown that FCT that replaces each function of a problem behavior will reduce problem behaviors in autistic children. Therefore, functional analysis results allow for the reduction of problem behaviors while identifying optimal situations/settings to teach language. Three male autistic students, attending a public school, were involved in the study. All subjects exhibited one or more problem behaviors that interfered with their everyday functioning at school. Initially, functional assessment data were collected via a descriptive analysis using Antecedent-Behavior-Consequence (A-B-C) data. The A-B-C data were taken throughout each subject's school day in various environments. The data for each subject were graphed and analyzed by a school psychologist. Based on the results, the school psychologist developed a hypothesis for each subject regarding the function of his problem behavior. Subjects were exposed to various functional analysis conditions using a single subject multielement manipulation design based on the A-B-C data. These functional analysis sessions were conducted in each student's current public school placement. Functional analysis conditions were implemented until stable levels of problem behaviors were obtained or a clear pattern provided evidence as to the function of the problem behavior. Data from all sessions were graphed in a multiple baseline across subjects and visually assessed. Based on the data from the functional analysis, the function of the student's problem behavior was hypothesized. The experimenter, who was also a school psychologist, designed and implemented a function based treatment package to successfully reduce each student's problem behaviors. The treatment for each subject was individually designed based on that subject's functional analysis. Each treatment also incorporated a FCT component. As a result, problem behaviors were successfully reduced for each subject using functional assessment methodology by a school psychologist in a public school setting. / School Psychology

Proper assembly and localization of receptors and the associated signal transduction protein complex is important for normal cell function. Scaffolding proteins have been implicated in organizing the assembly of protein complex and localization of receptors. PDZ domain containing proteins are one major type of scaffolding protein. One well characterized system is the C. elegans LIN-2/LIN-7/LIN-10 PDZ protein complex. In C. elegans, this protein complex acts as a scaffold for the proper localization of LET-23, the ortholog of EGFR, to the epithelial basolateral membrane. The Drosophila orthologs, cmg, dveli and dmint/dX11L, have been identified. The sequence homologies and expression patterns suggest that these genes may have similar functions as their mammalian orthologs. The possible functions include cell-cell junction formation, receptor localization, ion channel localization and neurotransmitter vesicle trafficking. The main objectives of this thesis work are the mutagenesis and functional analysis of dveli. Potential mutants were generated by P element insertional mutagenesis, however, further analysis is required to identify the affected genes. A systemic RNAi experiment was performed. The delivery mechanism used was the RNAi soaking technique adapted from Dr. Davis’s laboratory protocol. Primary results from RNAi experiments show that loss of dveli function results in a reduction in larval locomotion speed. This slower locomotion phenotype along with the post-synaptic expression of dVELI at larval neuromuscular junction suggest a synaptic role of dVELI, perhaps aiding in synapse formation or proper localization of neurotransmitter receptors. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

Thesis (D.Tech (Engineering Electrical)) - Central University of Technology, Free State, 2005 / When Thomas Edison invented his carbon filament lamp in 1879, gas shares fell overnight. A committee of inquiry was set up to examine the future possibilities of the new method of lighting, and had reached the conclusion that electric light in the home was fanciful and absurd. Today electric light burns in practically every house in the civilised world, with many great advances in the production and use of electricity and electric power supplied by various utilities. The objective of the electric utility to deliver pure sinusoidal voltage at fairly constant magnitude throughout their system is complicated by the fact that there are currently loads on the system that produce harmonic voltages, which result in distorted voltages and currents that can adversely impact on the system performance in different ways. Because the numbers of harmonic producing loads have increased over the years, it has become necessary to address their influence, when making any additions or changes to an installation. Quality of supply measurements have long been used to characterise non-linearity on the power system, and have traditionally been measured with expensive portable analysers. A potentially faster, more integrated, and more flexible solution to measure the harmonics with a Supervisory System is accomplished by this research. Any script which aspired to cover in full detail the whole field of a subject so enormous as techniques to measure the quality of electricity supply on a SCADA system, would hardly be practical in less than a few volumes. The pretensions of this research are both modest and of a more immediate value to the reader.

The first contribution of this thesis is a new regularity theorem for time harmonic Maxwell's equations with less than Lipschitz complex anisotropic coefficients. By using the L^p theory for elliptic equations, it is possible to prove H¹ and Hölder regularity results, provided that the coefficients are W^1,p for some p = 3. This improves previous regularity results, where the assumption W^1,∞ for the coefficients was believed to be optimal. The method can be easily extended to the case of bi-anisotropic materials, for which a separate approach turns out to be unnecessary. The second focus of this work is the boundary control of the Helmholtz and Maxwell equations to enforce local constraints inside the domain. More precisely, we look for suitable boundary conditions such that the corresponding solutions and their derivatives satisfy certain local non-zero constraints. Complex geometric optics solutions can be used to construct such illuminations, but are impractical for several reasons. We propose a constructive approach to this problem based on the use of multiple frequencies. The suitable boundary conditions are explicitly constructed and give the desired constraints, provided that a finite number of frequencies, given a priori, are chosen in a fixed range. This method is based on the holomorphicity of the solutions with respect to the frequency and on the regularity theory for the PDE under consideration. This theory finds applications to several hybrid imaging inverse problems, where the unknown coefficients have to be imaged from internal measurements. In order to perform the reconstruction, we often need to find suitable boundary conditions such that the corresponding solutions satisfy certain non-zero constraints, depending on the particular problem under consideration. The multiple frequency approach introduced in this thesis represents a valid alternative to the use of complex geometric optics solutions to construct such boundary conditions. Several examples are discussed.